Christchurch - Timaru : more than meets the eye along one of NZ's quieter road trips

Christchurch to Timaru: This is a road trip I wasn't looking forward to - unless it had been on the German auto-bahn.  Dead flat all the way; not traffic; dead boring, no driving faster than 100km an hour; no golden sand horseshoe bays, no nikau palm pohutukawa-lined beaches etc, etc. Boring, boring....

Well not so! I discovered Timaru and southern Canterbury full of quirky things. The world's biggest collection of Maori rock art, ate salmon at the New Zealand salmon capital of Rakaia and learned a bit of history. Timaru: the home of Jack Lovelock, world boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons, artist Colin McCahon and arguably the greatest horse ever to gallop - Phar Lap. And just up the road I pass the Timaru Airport - named after Richard Pearse, arguably the first person ever to take off in a plane 105 years ago.

There were other surprises on the road. It is an easy two hour drive though it takes half an hour get truly out of Christchurch these days. Not too long ago Hornby was at the southern city limits; then Templeton and now almost Rolleston, slugged Town of the Future, more like : City of the Future.

I pull my Jucy rental car into the Dunsandel Store. It's got quite a reputation as the best place to stop for lunch between Christchurch and Timaru. There's a big open fire and great food - I wish the staff would smile more!

Then on to Ashburton which claims the largest bus building operation in the southern hemisphere; the largest  spinning wheel and weaving loom manufacturer in New Zealand; one of the leading kite designers in the world and - wait for it - one of the largest sock factories in New Zealand, some being made out of seaweed. Right... moving on.

Further on I pass the turn-off to Pleasant Pt, the town that churns out the best custard squares in the country. Denheath House makes more than a thousand custard squares a day. I give the Temuka pottery a miss this time and arrive into sunny Timaru.

I stay at the best motel in town , the Avenue Motor Lodge. Motel  owner Mary Houghton says their occupancy rate is 88 percent . I taste why it is well above the city average of 67 percent. Avenue Motor Lodge must have the biggest rooms of any motel in NZ!

Next morning what will I do?  Go ballooning at Methven, rafting on the Rangitata, join a Maori rock art tour, visit some art galleries, find some Phar Lap memorabilia, go fishing, jet-boating, or check out the Temuka pottery?

The Maori rock art trips are incredible. Hard to believe there are so many. Long extinct flightless birds, eagles and moa are seen in limestone caves inland from Pleasant Pt which make up 90 percent of the natural art galleries in New Zealand's remaining rock art collection: all within 70km of Timaru. The bulk of the 300 rock art sites in South Canterbury are in the Opihi and Pareora river areas and more are being discovered all the time.

I plump for South Island's third largest art gallery public , the Aigantighe which is home to works by CF Goldie, Frances Hodgkins and Timaru-born Colin McCahon. The gallery is one of the best in New Zealand but sadly lacks national profile.

Meanwhile, locals are preparing for the New Zealand Hat and Hair Art Awards in November  as part of their Festival of Roses. And next week about 1000 women will take part in the Woman's Affair event - the local version of Girls Day Out. They love skin and hair product and treatments, home interior design bits, shoes, clothing, jewellery, fashion and beauty shows, dance, fitness, music and guest speakers.

Timaru has bronze statues of world heavyweight boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons and 1936 Olympic 1500m champion Jack Lovelock. On the north edge of Timaru is Washdyke, which has renamed its racecourse Phar Lap Raceway. Melbourne Cup winner Phar Lap had 37 wins from 51 starts. There's a  big campaign to build a Phar Lap statue at the entrance into Timaru. 
  
Just north of Timaru is the airport named after Richard Pearse, who is disputed to have been airborne nine months before the Wright Brothers.

So the Jucy trip to Timaru may seem all straight roads, dairy paddocks and centre pivot irrigators but there is a lot more fascination for the area than meets the eye.